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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Habitual Nourishment - Evangelize

Sunday was another day of recovery from the shwarma, but I still managed to make a good supper. It started off being just simple sautéed bok choy with leftover black bean salad, but by the time I finished (1 hour later), there was ginger, garlic, hot peppers (too many), mushrooms, red pepper, a hot pepper sauce, and grilled tofu. Whew. No wonder I succumb to take out every now and again. Cooking healthy meals seems to always turn into a giant endeavour that takes and hour or more; however, having tasty meals does make it easier to stick with the plan – no feelings of deprivation to derail.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... all good eating days. Green, green smoothies; giant salads; and vegetable and bean rich suppers have kept me full. And the good news – the pointer on the scale has started to move again (the desired way!).

These last few days I’ve been fighting off the urge to evangelize... I’ve been re-reading “Eat to Live”, and I’ve also been spending time on the ETL website reading the forums, and the success stories (there are over 3600 to chose from). With all that information swirling through my head it is difficult not to spout off at any opportunity. It just seems so obvious that this is a healthy way to eat compared to what others consider healthy...

Many people think they are eating a healthy diet, but what facts are they basing it on? Plant based, whole food eating has so much science behind it that is is hard to refute. Unfortunately I’m not good at keeping a whole bunch of scientific study references in my head so often don’t make the best arguments. One of the differences in this diet is that it isn’t solely for weight loss (although that does happen when you are on the “6 week” phase). Following a plant-based eating plan has been shown, in case after case, that it reverses heart disease; reverses diabetes; reduces and even eliminates auto-immune diseases; and even has an effect on depression (but unfortunately does not “cure” bipolar, but may help symptoms). Sick people on several medications have been able to get off them after following this plan. How can you argue against that?

Coincidently, since I started ETL in October, my mood has only been good. The first few days I thought I was a bit hypo-manic, but on further thought I believe I was just feeling the contrast between feeling kind of yuck with what I was eating and the good of better eating. This is the longest time in a long time that I’ve been so stable – and in the dark days of November, it is almost guaranteed that I’ll have down days. Diet or not I’ll take it!

Another interesting thing, again related to how good I feel, is how a “normal” diet makes me feel. A few years back when I first started loosely following ETL I noticed how good I felt. The thing is that before I didn’t realize that what I was eating was making me feel yuck! It was only the contrast of closely following the eating guidelines that showed me the difference. In the last few years as I’ve gone off and on it has become even more clear that eating “normal” foods does not agree with me. Last Friday was a bit of a test in that regard (with the chicken shwarma). I felt horrible for 2 days after eating it! It was a pretty extreme test, but my resolve has hardened even more.

Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears. ~ Arthur Koestler

About Me

Actively pursuing happiness by RVing, playing with my dogs and parrot, cooking and enjoying the small daily pleasures in life. Since retirement I've started writing, first as a mental exercise, but now I can't seem to stop! My blog is where I practice this new hobby.